Related Links

DeLAND—Taylor Cockrell hurled seven strong innings and Tyler Bocock had three hits and three RBI as Stetson completed a sweep of its Atlantic Sun Conference series with Lipscomb, winning 10-3 in the final, Saturday at Melching Field.

The sweep, Stetson’s first of the season, improves the Hatters to 17-24 overall and 6-9 in A-Sun play. Lipscomb falls to 24-17 and 12-6.

The Hatters swept the series behind strong pitching and an opportunistic offense. Stetson pitching posted a 1.61 ERA, including 14 shutout innings by the bullpen. Stetson’s offense produced a .327 batting average, including a .375 clip with runners in scoring position.

“We talked last night about not being satisfied with winning two out of three games,” said Stetson head coach Pete Dunn. “I told the team that we can start to dig ourselves out the hole we’ve been in with three wins. The team bought in came out this weekend and got after it. This was an outstanding effort for the weekend and we have to build upon it.”

Lipscomb started the scoring in the top of the first when Jonathan Allison led off with a solo home run to center field. The Bisons put the next two runners on base but Cockrell (4-3) settled down and retired the next three batters to end the inning.

Stetson wasted no time in taking control of the game, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first. Kevin Fagan led off with a single and Bocock knocked in Fagan with a double into the left field corner to tie the game.

Bocock moved to third when Patrick Mazeika reached on an error, and scored two batters later on a ground out by Garrett Russini. Kyle Pitts knocked in Mazeika with a double, giving Stetson a 3-0 lead.

The Hatters tacked on another run in the second. Mike Fernland led off with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice by Mitch Piatnik and scored on a bunt single by Bocock to make it 4-1.

Bocock, who was recently dropped from the lead-off spot in the batting order back into the two-hole, was 6-for-9 in the last two games.

“I’m more comfortable in the two spot,” said Bocock. “I’m starting to see the ball well, and I’ve been a little more aggressive. We are a good team but we fail to show it sometimes. We can play with anybody on any given day.”

Lipscomb starter Denton Norman retired the Hatters in order in the third and fourth innings, but Stetson exploded for three more runs in the fifth. Russini had an RBI single, Pitts knocked in his second run with drive off the wall in left, and Fernland plated a run on a fielder’s choice for a 7-1 lead.

Two more runs scored for Stetson in the sixth when Josh Powers knocked in Fagan and Piatnik with a single as Stetson grabbed a 9-1 advantage.

Cockrell, meanwhile, was cruising. The freshman right-hander never faced more than three batters between the second and seventh innings, recording three 1-2-3 innings and allowing just two hits in that span.

But Cockrell ran into trouble in the eighth, allowing the first three batters on as Lipscomb cut the lead to 9-3. Josh Thorne came out of the bullpen and set down the Bisons, allowing only a run-scoring groundout.

Bocock knocked in Stetson’s final run with a single in the eighth.

The Hatters collected 13 hits in the game, with Bocock, Fagan, Powers, Pitts and Piatnik each had multiple hits. Powers, Pitts and Russini each drove in a pair of runs.

Cockrell allowed seven hits and three runs, striking out six and walking one.